This invention relates to a device for tenderizing edible meat, and more particularly, to a handy-type meat tenderizer for tenderizing the edible meat by cutting muscles, tendons or fibrous tissues contained in the meat into short pieces.
The edible meat usually contains a number of muscles, tendons and fibrous tissues (hereinafter merely called straps) each having relatively long length and being harder than the other fleshy substance of the meat, and these fibrous tissues and straps are more liable to be shrunk than other fleshy substance of the meat in heat treatment, being not desired. These straps also prevent persons from comfortably eating the meat, and for this reason, it is required to preliminarily cut the straps with a specific cutter for effectively preventing the shrinkage of the meat when the meat is prepared or cooked and for comfortably eating the meat.
Such a specific cutter is usually called a meat tenderizer or tender, and the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 28539/1983 discloses one example of a meat tenderizer of this type which has a construction shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 labeled as Prior Art.
Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the meat tenderizer comprises a splitable case member 100 (100a and 100b) acting also as a handle member, a cutter plate 101, a cutter plate holder 102 accommodated in the case 100 and supporting the cutter plate 101, a plurality of meat cutter blades 103 generally in shape of sharp sticking blades, suspended from the cutter plate 101, and a meat support plate 104 supported by vertical posts 107 to be vertically slidable, the support plate 105 being provided with a plurality of slits 104 through which the cutter blades 103 project downwardly.
According to the construction of the meat tenderizer of this prior art, the cutter plate 101 and the plate holder 102 are accommodated in the case 100 and firmly secured thereto by means of bolt, so that it is difficult to assemble the cutter plate 101 and the plate holder 102, after once disassembled for the purpose of cleaning, for example, in such a manner that the cutter blades 103 are inserted into the slits 105 of the support plate 104, and thus, the functioning of the reassembled cutter blade assembly may be adversely affected. In the actual cutting working, when the case 100 as the handle member is pressed manually downwardly, the pressing force is transmitted to the blade 103 supported by the cutter plate 101 in a concentrated manner through a clamping bolt 108 by which the case halves 100a and 100b are clamped with the plate holder 102 interposed there between, and accordingly, the concentrated load is applied to the cutter plate holder 102 from the handle member 100. It is therefore necessary to improve the mechanical strength of the handle 100 and the cutter plate holder 102 near the clamping bolt 108 against the concentrated load.
The case halves 100a and 100b have recesses which constitute bores when they are assembled as a case member 100, and spring members 106 are accommodated in the bores respectively. The upper ends of the posts 107 are fitted slidably into the bores in the manner urged downwardly by the spring members 106. When the handle 100 is pressed downwardly with the meat support plate abutting against the meat surface, the springs 106 are compressed. In fact, the springs 106 will be compressed to the maximum extent before the lower end of the case 100 reaches stopper portions 104a of the meat support plate 104. Accordingly, under this state, when the case 100 is further pressed downwardly, there is the possibility that the springs 106 will break the top portion of the case 100 and project outwardly, which will result in a fatal damage to the meat tenderizer itself.